Vista too slow for you? Tips to speed it up:
Alexander Muse , April 28, 2007
Alex Saunders explains,
For some time, Microsoft has been promoting a new technology in Windows Vista called ReadyBoost. ReadyBoost caches the pagefile, extending the virtual memory cache onto USB memory, if available, rather than using the hard disk. Since flash memory is 10x faster than disk, theoretically it should be a significant performance improvement. Sounds cool! Moreover, using ReadyBoost is trivial. It’s just an option that appears anytime you plug in a USB connected device. So how well does it work in practice? The performance boost was immediate and obvious. Applications load faster, the hard disk pages less often, and the machine generally feels much more responsive. That 1G key now has a permanent home in one of the rear USB ports on my PC. It’s the best $29 I’ve spent on performance in a long time!
Blackberry System Down!
Alexander Muse , April 18, 2007
Research in Motion, the company that runs the network that makes your Blackberry work, announced that the Blackberry network is down. They don’t know when the system will be restored. Read more here.
SPAM Storm! Worst in past 12 months.
Alexander Muse , April 13, 2007
Holy cow! You may have noticed the most recent outbreak of spam. Turns out it is the worst in more than twelves months. Read more about it from ComputerWorld here.
Postini has already counted nearly 5 million copies of the spam in the last 24 hours, and calculated that the run currently accounts for 87% of all malware being spread through e-mail. Spam rates have jumped as well; Postini said 79% of all e-mail is now spam, while rival MessageLabs Ltd. reported a 13% jump in spam’s slice of all messages in just one hour. “Expect this to grow much larger,” Swidler said. “It should top out at 60 million messages within the next 24 hours.”
Windows XP Phased Out by Year’s End!
Alexander Muse , April 12, 2007
The last Windows XP OEM version will roll off the lines by the end of this year. Despite huge demand, Microsoft won’t sell the operating system in 2008. Get ready to move to Vista, whether you like it or not…
Can organic growth be compatible with high growth?
Alexander Muse , April 7, 2007
Alex is blogging about how Architel has followed an organic growth model. Check out his post titled, “Why organic growth worked for Architel.“
Is your geek playing games with your network?
Alexander Muse , April 5, 2007
Time to think about making a change?
Architel-Style Support in Philadelphia
Alexander Muse , April 4, 2007
Looking for an all-you-can-eat, fixed fee IT support solution in Philadelphia? Look no further! Simply Help is a small upstart offering an Architel-style solution in the Philadelphia area. We spent around 20 minutes on the phone with Bart comparing notes. They seem to be on the right track. Give Bart a call at 215-825-5116!
Risk Taking in Technology
Alexander Muse , April 4, 2007
Seth Godin is writing about how most marketers “will do just about anything to persuade people that buying their product is risk free”. He notes that without risk your service is likely unremarkable. Specifically he writes, “Word of mouth [marketing] is directly proportional to risk. If I take a risk and it works out, I tell everyone. If there was no risk, it’s not interesting (remarkable) and that’s the end of that.”
Changing IT service providers is a HUGE risk. We certainly appreciate the risk our clients have take by moving to our fractional IT support model. We think our model is better and we are proud of our first 100 clients (hard to imagine that we have 100+ clients now). Thanks!
Advertising Program = More CSP Leads!
Alexander Muse , April 2, 2007
We are trying to finalize our initial CSP phone list in conjunction with our major advertising push. Starting next month Architel will be running television ads on various cable channels including Fox News, MSNBC and CNN. We will also run print ads in various local papers including the Dallas Morning News. Finally, we will be mailing promotional material to thousands of businesses throughout the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex. We believe we will receive lots of calls for our CSP members. What is the CSP program?
The Architel Certified Support Provider program was created to offer prospects who do not qualify for our fractional support program immediate help with their computer issues. Once we identify that a caller needs help from a CSP member we transfer them into the ‘CSP Hunt Group’. Our phone system then simultaneously dials each CSP member who then have the option of taking the call by pressing ‘one’ if they are available to handle a call. CSP members get a steady stream of leads and prospects get to talk to someone live, instead of having to leave a message. Hopefully, everyone wins. After each lead is handed off, we conduct satisfaction surveys to ensure our CSPs are doing a great job.
We are still accepting new CSP members, so if you are interested in signing up for the program. Please review the Certified Support Provider Agreement carefully. Make sure you include the number you wish to be included in our system in the contract (the field is on page two, section six). Then fax the contract to 214.550.2001
